Packaging the Tourism Product

Abstract

Thomas Cook, in the mid-19th century, is said to have started it all when he operated an excursion train from Leicester to Loughborough as a means of promoting the cause of temperance; Henry Lunn, a few years later, then introduced ski-ing to a wealthy sector of the British public. However, it was not until the late 1940s that Vladmir Raitz, a young Russian emigrant, first introduced the beach package holiday. He offered tented holidays in Corsica, arranging flights on war-surplus Douglas DC9 aircraft. It could be said that these first package tours were born out of the desire of many to experience the climate and culture of destinations which had been seen between the two great wars.